Portrait of the Week: Emanuela De Musis, “Miss Rachel”

In this occasional series, Fine Art Today delves into the world of portraiture, highlighting historical and contemporary examples of superb quality and skill. This week: Emanuela De Musis, “Miss Rachel.”

The Art Renewal Center’s annual salon is one of the world’s most prestigious representational art competitions. Needless to say, the number of applicants and quality of their works makes entry to — and winning — the salon a monumental achievement. This week’s feature portrait was the 2016 winner in the portraiture category, as announced just a few weeks ago. In fact, Boston-born artist Emanuela De Musis took home both first and second place in the portraiture category, though we take this moment to highlight the powerful first place winner, “Miss Rachel.”

An intense visage greets the viewer in “Miss Rachel,” the sitter’s posture and gaze emanating confidence, power, and grace. Imaged in three-quarter view, the female subject is illuminated by a single light source directly over her head and outside the picture frame. The dramatic tenebrism and theatrical contrast on the figure allow her form to project and lift from the blackened background. Particularly noteworthy is the beautiful blouse worn by the sitter. The cool-white color of the garment allows the warmth of “Rachel’s” skin more attention and, in addition, highlights the brilliant flash of red seen in her lips.

Andrew Webster is the former Editor of Fine Art Today and worked as an editorial and creative marketing assistant for Streamline Publishing. Andrew graduated from The University of North Carolina at Asheville with a B.A. in Art History and Ceramics. He then moved on to the University of Oregon, where he completed an M.A. in Art History. Studying under scholar Kathleen Nicholson, he completed a thesis project that investigated the peculiar practice of embedded self-portraiture within Christian imagery during the 15th and early 16th centuries in Italy.